LAHORE - The Employees Old-age Benefit Institution (EOBI) pensioners have demanded increase in pension from Rs5,250 per month to Rs15,000 per month in the upcoming budget.

It is pertinent to mention here that the government was not only paying no heed to the cries of EOBI pensioners but also deferring the time and again calls of the Supreme Court, questioning the inability of the government to transfer EOBI funds to the provincial governments despite lapsing of six years since the 18th amendment was passed.

Former chief justice Iftikhar Muhammd Chaudhry on June 29 had taken suo motu on a note of the SC registrar. According to the note, the EOBI had allegedly caused a loss of Rs40 billion to the national exchequer by investing huge amounts in private sector projects without approval of its Board of Trustees (BoT).

The projects included purchase of plots in the DHA, purchase of a plaza in F-7 Markaz, Islamabad, two 4300cc Parado cars for the chairman, two controversial plots in Sukkur, development of cricket ground in Islamabad, purchase of plots from CDA, 40 kanal land in Lahore, purchase of four floors of a hotel in Lahore, construction of 7-star hotel in Lahore, construction of M-9 Motorway and purchase of 20 kanal land near Karachi airport on an exorbitant price.

The sufferings of EOBI pensioners are multiplying with every passing day, as they are finding difficult to meet both ends. Some 40 million industrial and mine workers deposit Rs20 billion to the EOBI on monthly basis while some 500,000 old age employees are receiving pension from the EOBI currently. The current reserves of the institutions are around Rs300 billion, sources added.

The EOBI pensioners have criticised the PMLN government for turning a deaf eye to their miseries. They have urged Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar and Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar to use their good offices in early resolution of the issue. They have further stressed the finance minister to announce a substantial increase in the EOBI pension in the upcoming budget.